The information for this article was provided by Robert Pear at New Work Times. The problem with this Democratic Plan is that it will get bogged down in the senate because Republicans want to kill any healthcare plan.
WASHINGTON
— Democrats won control of the House in large part on the strength of
their argument that Congress needs to protect people with pre-existing
medical conditions and to lower the cost of health care.
On Tuesday, Democratic leaders, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi, will put aside, at least for now, the liberal quest for a government-run “Medicare for all” single-payer system
and unveil a more incremental approach toward fulfilling those campaign
promises. Building on the Affordable Care Act, they would offer more
generous subsidies for the purchase of private health insurance offered
through the health law’s insurance exchanges while financing new efforts
to increase enrollment.
They would
also reverse actions by the Trump administration that allow insurance
companies to circumvent protections in the Affordable Care Act for
people with pre-existing conditions. Insurers could no longer sell
short-term health plans with skimpy benefits or higher premiums for
people with chronic illnesses.
Ms.
Pelosi said the legislation would “strengthen protections for
pre-existing conditions, reverse the G.O.P.’s health care sabotage and
lower Americans’ health costs.”
The legislative package, put together by
Ms. Pelosi and several House committee chairmen, builds on the health
law that the speaker was instrumental in passing — and that was signed
by President Barack Obama almost exactly nine years ago. And it seems to
answer a question facing Democrats since they took control of the
House: How would they balance the expansive demands of their most
liberal members with the needs of more pragmatic Democrats elected in
seats that were held by Republicans?
Ms.
Pelosi, the committee chairmen and many other House Democrats see the
new legislative package as a more efficient way of achieving universal
coverage, a goal shared by champions of “Medicare for all,” led by
Representatives Pramila Jayapal of Washington and Debbie Dingell of
Michigan.
Democrats said they would probably try
to pass the legislative package piece by piece, with the first votes on
the House floor expected in May. Some elements could win support from
Republican House members and from the Republican-controlled Senate.
With
their new proposal, House Democratic leaders hope to finesse the
disagreements within their caucus and to focus public attention instead
on the gulf that separates Democrats of all stripes from President Trump
on health care.
In his latest budget
request, Mr. Trump urged Congress again to repeal the expansion of
Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, which has provided coverage to
at least 12 million people newly eligible for the program. Mr. Trump attacked Senator John McCain last week, seven months after his death, for casting a decisive vote against repeal of the 2010 health law.
And in the
economic report of the president, the White House boasted last week
about how Mr. Trump had allowed small businesses and individual
consumers to buy insurance plans that skirt many requirements of the
Affordable Care Act, offering lower costs but fewer benefits.
Under a rule issued in August,
Mr. Trump greatly expanded the market for sales of short-term insurance
plans that do not have to cover prescription drugs, maternity care,
drug abuse treatment or pre-existing conditions.
The
House Democrats’ bill would turn back the president’s action by
stipulating that short-term plans are included in the definition of
“individual health insurance coverage” under the Affordable Care Act and
therefore must comply with coverage requirements of the health law.
“These
junk plans discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions,”
said Representative Frank Pallone Jr., Democrat of New Jersey and an
architect of the new legislation. “They deny access to basic benefits.
They set arbitrary dollar limits for health care services, leading to
huge surprise bills for consumers.”
“We
passed the Affordable Care Act to rein in exactly these types of
abuses,” said Mr. Pallone, who is investigating the short-term plan as
chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee.
The
Affordable Care Act provides two main types of financial assistance to
people of modest means buying private insurance: tax credits to help
them pay premiums, and cost-sharing reductions to lower their
deductibles, co-payments and other out-of-pocket costs.
The House Democrats’ bill would revise the law to provide more of both types of assistance.
In
addition, the bill would make subsidies available to some working
families who are now ineligible. The law, as interpreted by the Internal
Revenue Service, bars subsidies to workers who have access to
affordable employer-sponsored coverage for themselves — even if the cost
of coverage for the entire family is unaffordable. The House Democrats’
bill would eliminate this quirk in the law, sometimes called the family
glitch.
The bill would
also provide money to publicize the insurance options and subsidies
available under the Affordable Care Act and to help people enroll. Mr.
Trump has cut the budget for such efforts by more than 80 percent,
saying the funds were no longer needed because people were now well
aware of the law.
House Democrats
would also block guidance issued by the Trump administration under which
states can get waivers allowing them to use federal funds to subsidize
insurance that does not comply with coverage requirements in the
Affordable Care Act.
The Democrats’
package includes several measures proposed by freshmen. One, by
Representative Angie Craig, Democrat of Minnesota, seeks to lower
premiums by setting up reinsurance programs, using a combination of
federal and state funds to help pay the largest claims. Minnesota and
several other states have established such programs and are pleased with
the results.
The package will also
include a bipartisan bill offered by Representative Andy Kim, a freshman
Democrat from New Jersey, that would provide federal money to states
that want to set up their own insurance marketplaces but have yet to do
so.
“With skyrocketing premiums in
the federal marketplace, state-based exchanges have proven to be more
effective at increasing the rate of coverage and lowering costs,” said
Representative Brian Fitzpatrick, Republican of Pennsylvania, who helped
write this proposal with Mr. Kim.
March 19, 2019
